Warrenville wants Naperville school district to withdraw lawsuit

January 22, 2013|By Gary Gibula | Special to the Tribune

Warrenville officials are calling on Naperville Community Unit School District 203 to end an 8-year-old lawsuit against the city, schools and other governmenet bodies, saying it has cost taxpayers too much money.

The Warrenville City Council voted Monday on a resolution urging the school district to give up the litigation over use of tax dollars generated by the Cantera retail and office development.

At stake are funds from a now-retired Warrenville tax increment financing district that partially overlaps District 203 boundaries. Although the Naperville school district receives about $3 million per year from the deal, District 203 officials believe more is due. according to the lawsuit.

Warrenville mayor David Brummel said he will present the resolution in person at Tuesday night’s District 203 school board meeting.

"We'll be doing that in the hope of raising some awareness with the new board members about what's been going on this past eight years, with hopes that they'll take a closer look at what we consider to be a very expensive fishing expedition," Brummel said.

District 203 officials could not immediately be reached for a response.

The March 2005 lawsuit alleges that Warrenville, Wheaton-Warrenville District 200 and the park, library and fire protection districts wrongly benefited from the funds collected in a special taxing district.

The suit was dismissed in October 2005 and again in 2007, and District 203 has appealed twice to the Illinois Appellate Court.

"To date, the litigation has cost both sides more than $800,000, money that could have been used more productively to pay teachers, educate our children and provide services to our citizens," Brummel said. "This figure includes $446,000 District 203 already has spent in its pursuit."

Officials said defendants' litigation fees include $133,208 the city has paid, $92,000 for the library district, about $47,000 for the park district, $45,699 for the fire district and $39,000 incurred by District 200.

Warrenville's special taxing district fostered the Cantera development on Diehl Road, which includes a large movie theater, restaurants and stores.

Brummel said the city obtained legal advice on how to use the tax money.

"We have done nothing without the approval of our attorney and bond counsel," said Brummel. "Everything has been done on the up and up, and as far as we're concerned we have followed the law to the letter."

Since the 2009 closing of the special taxing district, Warrenville officials said Dist. 203 has been receiving $3.3 million annual payments.

Additionally, they say all of the Cantera development that lies within District 203 boundaries is commercial property with no residents or school-aged children.

"The whole idea is to respectfully ask them if they've looked at this,” Brummel said: “It's dragged on for eight years now."